As the 2026 Senate race in Maine intensifies, a fresh ProPublica report has thrust the veteran Republican’s past dealings with Hawaii-based defense contractor Navatek back into the spotlight. The investigation centers on Martin Kao, Navatek’s former chief executive, who pleaded guilty to a series of financial crimes and later alleged that he exchanged campaign contributions for lucrative federal contracts.
According to the report, the FBI began probing Kao’s claims in 2021, questioning whether his donations influenced the allocation of government money. The inquiry lingered for several years, resurfacing with renewed vigor after Kao’s guilty plea in 2022. By September 2024, agents met him at the U.S. attorney’s office in Honolulu for a two-day interview, during which he handed over a 50-page dossier outlining alleged contacts with elected officials, including Collins.
Timeline of the federal inquiry
The initial 2021 probe, launched under the Biden Justice Department, concluded without charges against anyone connected to Collins’s campaign. However, Kao continued to provide new statements through 2022, and 2024, prompting agents to keep the case open. Early 2025 records show that FBI personnel were still reviewing Kao’s testimony, cross-checking emails and contract files, before the investigation was abruptly halted.
In, President Donald Trump’s administration dismissed or reassigned many agents and DOJ attorneys handling public-corruption matters, effectively ending the early-stage review of the Kao-Collins connection. The purge, which targeted investigators involved in prior high-profile probes, left the case unfinished and shrouded in uncertainty.
Collins’s public rebuttals and factual gaps
Facing the renewed allegations, Sen. Susan Collins and her team issued a series of statements. She asserted, “In 2021, the Biden Justice Department found there was no wrongdoing by anyone on my campaign staff, my office or me.” She later added, “The Biden-led Justice Department and FBI totally cleared my office, my campaign and me five years ago of these seven-year-old allegations.” Both claims misalign with the documented timeline: the investigation that examined Kao’s 2022-2024 allegations did not conclude in 2021, nor was it wrapped up under the Biden administration. Instead, the inquiry was still active in 2024 and was only terminated after the 2025 Trump-era personnel changes.
An FBI spokesperson confirmed that the agency “investigated claims against Collins years ago and ultimately found nothing implicating Senator Collins or Senator Collins’ campaign.” Yet the agency’s own records, reviewed by ProPublica, indicate that investigators remained engaged with Kao through September 2024 and into early 2025, contradicting the implication that the matter was settled years earlier.
Evidence uncovered by the FBI
Despite Kao’s status as a convicted felon—he pleaded guilty to five counts of money laundering, three counts of wire fraud, one count of bank fraud, and false FEC filings—the FBI did not dismiss his statements outright. A December 2024 internal memo noted that “several emails and other documents corroborate Kao’s statements made to the FBI.” Hundreds of thousands of pages were produced after a grand-jury subpoena issued to Navatek, and specific email trails linked the former CEO to Scott Reed, head of the Collins-aligned super PAC.
The emails reveal that Kao disclosed the shell company used to conceal a $150,000 donation, and a Navatek representative later asked for Kao’s contact information so Collins could be thanked. While campaign manager Steve Abbott said there is “no record of her calling him,” he acknowledged that thanking donors is routine. Reed, when approached, said he never spoke directly with Collins about Kao but confirmed Kao is now serving a sentence of 87 months in federal prison.
Judge-sentenced Kao received no leniency for cooperating, suggesting the court found his credibility limited. Nonetheless, agents were able to verify parts of his account, a point underscored by Deputy chief of Staff Annie Clark’s remark that “the FBI and the Court obviously did not believe Kao,” a statement that conflicts with the documented corroboration.
Democratic challenger Troy Jackson has seized on the report, labeling the alleged arrangement as “corruption of the highest order” and demanding full disclosure of every contract tied to Navatek. He added that the episode illustrates how former President Trump’s 2025 personnel shake-up may have shielded a potential scandal.
Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, continues to tout her ability to deliver federal funds to Maine, citing projects such as an $8-million Navy-funded 3D-printed boat built by a University of Maine research center. Whether those contracts were awarded on merit or as part of a pay-to-play scheme remains the central question as the race heads toward November.
